Remnant Saga S1: by Nick Venom (fiction book recommendations .TXT) 📖

The person cranked its neck, fixated on the sound. It moved forward, the echo of Sam’s voice being dissected and used against him. The person, a bloody monster, found the origin of the sound and charged forward. Sam jumped out of the way, hitting the shelf. The sound gave the monster a clue on where Sam was, turning its body awkwardly to face him.

“You damned monster!” He pressed the trigger, blasting the entire magazine into the monster’s gut, which tore it apart with ease. The monster fell to the ground, its guts flopping out of its body. Blood---which was strangely more blueish than it should’ve---poured and created a shallow puddle around its corpse.

Sam backed away from the blood before it could touch him. Instead, he turned his head to face his bag, opening it and taking out a plastic vial from his bag - which resembled a small hand sanitizer bottle. He unscrewed the cap and took as much of the blood as he could without dipping his fingers into the mess. After getting the bottle nearly filled to the brim with the blood, he screwed the cap back on as tightly as he could before throwing it into his bag. He proceeded to leave the premises, basked in the dim light of the moonlight. “Damn idiots in the white house. They sent me to do their dirty work.” He then left the area, heading to Checkpoint Alpha where scientists in lab coats waited for him. They took him to a tent some distance away from the guarded entrance.

“You’re Agent 93?” One of the scientists, seemingly the main scientist, asked.

Sam nodded. “Yeah,”

“You have the sample?” The man asked. Sam responded by taking out the vial and handing it over to him. “Woah, such a… beautiful color.” The man remarked. He handed the vial to one of his colleagues, who began to freeze it. 

While his colleagues dealt with the vial, the man turned to Sam. “I’m Blyke Holder, the supervisor and lead scientist here.” He extended his hand to Sam. “Your name?”

“Agent 93. Nothing more, nothing less.” He muttered.

Blyke nodded. “Well… 93? I have a new mission for you. I need living subjects. We’ve called for volunteers, but nobody has appeared. You can “take care” of it for us, right?”

Sam nodded. “Got it.”

Blyke smiled. “I like you.” He said. “I think if you’re like this, we’ll be real good friends.” Sam didn’t respond, looking up at the moon. I want to get this over with, I got a family to return to. Well… I did have one… Maybe I still do, who knows? Well, anywhere but here would be better.

***

Lutz crept towards the pharmacy, three blocks from his house. He wanted to be quick, moving as fast as he could without being sighted by the passing bandit trucks. He avoided the main street, traveling through the alleyways and side streets. 

As he traveled, he could sense the tension. He knew about the gangs living in his community, but the violence never reached his neighborhood. Near the pharmacy, though, it was more than exploding as several gang members fought each other over food and water. It was a disgusting sight to see grown men killing each other for something that could’ve been shared and distributed easily. 

However, that was life in quarantine.

Lutz continued moving forward, reaching the pharmacy with ease. He approached the back door of the small one-story building and tried the door. The door was locked. He decided to try a different option, taking a few steps away from the door. “Mr. Greene, it’s me, Lutz.” He said, speaking loudly, but not enough to attract the wandering ears of bandits.

Several moments later, the door squealed open. Mr. John Greene, the owner and main worker of the pharmacy, popped his head out. He quickly recognized Lutz and waved him in. Lutz followed him inside, watching as the door was locked behind them.

“You’re here for your mother’s medicine? Oh, and I’m not going to question why you have weapons on you.” He asked.

Lutz nodded. “That’s probably for the best. Anyway, tomorrow’s the last day of medicine for her. Oh, and I need some more cough drops.”

Greene nodded, leading Lutz to the main room of the pharmacy. He went behind the counter, searching for the proper medicine. “You can grab the cough drops, they’re in aisle 4.” He said as he searched through the rows of medicines behind the counter. 

“Thanks,” Lutz said, heading to the right aisle. He found the cough drops his mother needed, grabbing a bag. “Do you mind if I take a couple?”

“Go ahead, take four bags. Leave the rest for others.” Greene said. 

“Thanks,” Lutz grabbed four bags of cough drops before moving towards the counter. He watched as Greene found the right medicine, taking out the key and unlocking it. He took out several bottles and handed them to Lutz. 

“Here’s a bag, take two.” He handed two plastic bags to Lutz who used both, stacking one atop the other. He stored the cough drops and medicine for his mother in the bag. 

“Thank you, Mr. Greene.”

“No problem,” Greene said. He glanced at the front door of the pharmacy, which he had boarded up. “It’s nice to see people like you, it reminds me of the pre-quarantine times. When people wouldn’t kill each other and we could go out freely.” 

Lutz nodded. “Don’t worry, we’re not all crazy.”

Greene smiled. “I see, thanks for that Lutz.”

“Always, Mr. Greene.”

Greene nodded. “Oh, and say hello to your mother for me. I hope she’s getting better.”

“I think she is,” Lutz said as he took a few steps away from the counter. “I’m leaving, Mr. Greene.”

“Good luck, Lutz.” Mr. Greene said as he followed Lutz to the back door.

“You too, Mr. Greene.” Lutz opened the door and stepped outside, looking around. He couldn’t see anybody near him. “I hope everything goes well with your pharmacy.”

“She will, she’s my pride and joy. My one and only creation. I’ll protect her to my last breath.” Mr. Greene said.

Lutz turned around, smiling. “I’ll be there to help protect it.”

Mr. Green nodded, smiling. “I thank you for that. Now, go before the bandits arrive.”

Lutz nodded. “Have a good day.”

“You too, Mr. Greene.”

TBC... 

Episode Seven "Raid"

“How did downtown fall apart so quickly? It was yesterday that everything was fine.” Elizabeth asked. “And how does everybody disappear so quickly? It’s only been three days since quarantine.”

Jordan shrugged his shoulders. “Nobody can explain it. They told me it looked as if they were in the desert, not a city.”

Elizabeth turned away from him, strolling to the front door of their house---a two-story brick house. “How has the scavenging process gone?”

“Very little. With everything downtown gone, we had to look towards the suburbs.”

“Ransacking everything?” She questioned.

“Every house they find. However, they’ve been told to not kill anybody. Not sure if Blint will listen, though.” 

Elizabeth nodded. “Enforce that rule, there aren’t many people left in Taken. It won’t be easy to escape once the government barges in if there’s nobody to hide behind. And as for the downtown matter, send some people to do a thorough check.

Jordan nodded, standing up. “Got it.” He headed towards his sister, who hadn’t opened the front door of the house yet. “Be careful, we don’t know things have changed. We also don't know if any of the gangs will rebel against us, since we used force to make them submit.”

Elizabeth nodded her head in acknowledgment. “Ruling under fear won’t stabilize a reign, but destroy it, right?” She asked. Jordan nodded. “Well… let’s go stabilize it then.”

***

Members under the NCT banner flooded into the suburbs of Taken with the order of pillaging without harming the populace. They barged into houses and began acting on Jordan’s order; not straying far from it. They took food, water, and pieces of jewelry, throwing the items into the trucks lining up the main road. 

Emerald, who was peeking out of the front door’s small window, cringed as she heard the squishy sounds of a head being bashed in by a baseball bat repeatedly. 

“What’s happening?” Teo asked, appearing behind her. She turned around, grabbing his shoulders and turning them around. 

“Take Sila and go upstairs. Do not move unless I tell you to.” She told him. Teo, who had a frightened expression, nodded. He rushed into the kitchen, grabbing Sila and bringing her upstairs. 

As they left her sight, she turned around and watched more of the chaos unfold in front of her. It was vicious and devastating as her neighbors tried and, more often, failed to repel the gangsters breaking into their house and stealing from them. Fortunately, however, none of the gangsters appeared to be overly cruel to the neighborhood. Most of them were armed, but there were no murders or rapes. It was pure thievery. 

What is happening? Why are they here? Emerald thought to herself. Why are they stealing from us? What do they want to do with all of that food? She continued to watch as her neighbors were evicted from their homes and some were fastened to trees with rope, but none of them were wounded. The NCT members weren’t harming a single hair off their heads. 

The first thirty minutes passed without any violence, but it quickly changed once a new truck appeared. The truck, a jeep, emerged from around a corner and parked behind the last vehicle, the inhabitants jumping out immediately. They began moving towards the first house in their sights, all armed with baseball bats and crowbars. The leader of the small squad of men stopped, looking around the scenery before speaking. “Have fun, boys! Everything is legal!” He declared. The men behind him sprinted forward, pushing at the door. The door, however, wouldn’t budge, forcing them to use their weapons to crack it apart.

The sole defender of the house, a middle-aged man, was armed with a baseball bat that he swung at the intruders as soon as he found an opening. The swing knocked into one of the men, knocking him backward. This angered the leader, a skinny bald man in his mid-twenties; he wore a loose gray sweater over a black tee shirt with expensive white sneakers and jeans with holes in them. 

The leader pushed forward, raising his baseball bat high into the sky before slamming it down on the man, knocking him out. With the sole defender unconscious, the leader’s men rushed in and swiftly found the other inhabitants in the house while the leader dragged the man out of the house and onto the front porch. 

“You dare hurt my men?” The leader rhetorically asked. He slammed the baseball bat on the man’s head, repeating this action until he dented the skull. By this point, some of the other NCT members noticed 

“Hey, what are you doing? We’re only here for food and water, not to hurt them.” Somebody informed him.

The leader glared at the person, backing them away from him with his glare. “I’m Blint, I don’t listen to orders from some crackheads who pretend they’re leaders.” He declared before spitting on the man. He turned towards the house, hearing the screams of females inside. “I’m leaving men, have your fun.” He said before looking for his next target, finding a house that hadn’t been ransacked. “Why ain’t that house been raided?”

The person looked